furjaw

My 2003 Acura MDX has almost 132,000 miles on it.
The power steering fluid leaked out on my garage floor.
A steel tube had a hole in it.
Not wanting to drive it too far, I took it to the Honda dealer because it was a lot closer than Acura.
They made it quite clear that Acura's were not welcome there.
He said that he would have to go to the Acura dealership to get the part.
I told him that I was sure that it was the same part that the Pilot uses.
He said that he would have to charge me a $100 "diagnostic charge" (my punishment).
He refused to give me a loaner car.
Every employee that I dealt with emphasized that I should not be bringing my Acura back because they have to travel to the Acura dealer for parts.

csmeance

This dealership sounds pretty stupid since the acura parts come in a honda bag from the same distributor and they can order the parts if needed.

IMO call up honda client relations and tell them of your experience. They will try to help out.

paz840

iTrader: (2)

I agree with csmeance, I would call.
They don't know what they're talking about and their customer service is atrocious.

My TL has been serviced at Honda dealerships several times.

bobin

I would be writing a letter to Honda/Acura and let them know what is going on and make sure that the area rep warranty man knows also, I wound not let that one go for sure.

db22

The Honda dealer only has the parts listings for Honda, they don't get Acura service bullitins or have experience with the differences. Yes there maybe some shared parts but how would they know that?
Would you take your Lexus to the Toyota dealership for mechanical repairs?

dominik331

Sure a lot of Honda dealers service Acura vehicles, and yes many of their cars share parts, but I'm failing to see why any of them should be obligated to.

And you wanted a loaner and a free diagnostic too?
I'm lucky to get a cup of coffee and a muffin at my local Honda. They (Local Honda) always tell me they would perform scheduled maintenance on Acura cars , but they recommend taking them to Acura for repairs. Simple as that.

moto94536

If they are real honda mechanic, they can able to fix Honda or Acura. Maybe they want you to go to acura dealer and pay more.

combat mediC

iTrader: (1)

What a dick.

My CL (SOLD) was leaking coolant, like you the Honda stealership was closer, I took it in, waited 4 hours or so and had me a new radiator and coolant flush.

I also took it there to have my tranny fluid flushed.


Tell them to call up Fernandez Honda in San Antonio TX. They've also worked on my wifes RDX because it was shaking at 70mph.

wilsel

I would not take my car back there. Sounds like they just didn't want to be inconvenienced with having to drive to get the part. Which may very well be different than the pilot even though they share the same engine and components I would have to imagine some hoses, etc. are different. I'm sure they would of hidden an extra hour of labor in to cover the driving anyway.

Even if you call and complain to Honda, and they act nicer next time. Would you really want to take your car there again? I mean if you're too lazy to drive to get a part, what else are they too lazy to do?

kmscrap

I find this very ironic, to read this here. I had the same situation.

Kristin

Bayman

i agree, for that matter how about taking an audi for service at a volkswagen dealer?

NBP04TL4ME

I guess it's up to the individual dealer to decide what they will and won't service. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense as the parts and service departments often times make more money and profit than the showroom does with new car sales.

Edward'TLS

New car sales don't make much money these days when invoice prices and factory rebates information is posted all over the internet.

Parts and services always (not often) make big money with the huge markups in parts and labor charges. The same holds true for used car sales.

Japs08

Couldn't agree you more!

Japs08

I guess I am one of the lucky one where I live. If I need something done that I can't do it I usually take it to the Honda dealership with no problem at all. Nice people good customer service, free water, coffee, popcorn and wifi. hehehe...

Syzygy

My friend took her Lexus to Toyota for brakes (full pads and rotors) and they said they can't do Lexus brakes. They told her to take it to Lexus. Lexus wanted $1200. I bought the parts for $300 and did it for her myself. This Toyota dealership also owns a Lexus dealership, so maybe that's why. They don't want you to service it at the cheaper shop. I bet Lexus wouldn't turn down a Toyota. And probably the Acura dealer won't turn away a Honda, either.

At least now you know where NOT to take your car.

wrestrepo

My experience (never taken the car to a Honda place) is that they try to get you to bring your Acura to a Honda place, since it's less likely that you will be taking a Honda to an Acura place...they are very similar under the skin.
I guess that if I were the OP I'd contact Honda Corp as suggested and never bring the car to that dealer again.

wrestrepo

My experience (never taken the car to a Honda place) is that they try to get you to bring your Acura to a Honda place, since it's less likely that you will be taking a Honda to an Acura place...they are very similar under the skin.
I guess that if I were the OP I'd contact Honda Corp as suggested and never bring the car to that dealer again.

service.suraj

Good luck contacting Acura Customer Service. They are not much help either.

nj2pa2nc

The dealership I use sells and services both acura and honda. I now take my tsx to their honda dealer with no problems

NBP04TL4ME

Admittedly I don't know the inner workings or politics at American Honda, but what would/could they honestly say to a Honda dealer unwilling to service an Acura? What would change their mind or force them to service an Acura? Again - I don't know the relationships or inner workings.

ivo

Just the other day I gave my gf a ride to the Honda dealership here in Sunnyvale, CA for a minor service on her Accord. I took the chance and asked the service advisor if they would service my TL which needs new brakes. He gladly quoted ~$300 (w. rotor re-surfacing) and gave me a business card to call him if I decide to do it. It seems that it's up to the dealer... Anyhow, I decided to go DIY

road1will

I'm failing to see what the dealer did wrong. They were willing to do the work, but wanted to charge an hour of labor to diagnose the specific problem. What, do you expect the technician to work for free? Furthermore, the hour of labor you pay for is typically applied to the repair if you elect to do it. Charging to diagnose a problem is commonplace, and is used to prevent people from getting a free diagnosis, and then taking the car home or elsewhere to do the repair themselves.
So what if they wouldn't give you a loaner, why should they? All you were committing to was an hour of labor, and you couldn't even commit to that. Loaner cars are typically reserved for customers spending 300-500+ unless you have just recently bought the car from the dealer or are having a major warranty repair completed.

And no, a honda dealer can't just order acura parts and vice-versa. The honda dealer doesn't have the parts catalog to look up the parts your MDX would need. They would have to call an acura dealer and price out/order parts just as you would.

Edward'TLS

There is one major difference.

All Honda/Acura parts have two price lists. One is the dealer cost, which is what dealers pay to the Honda warehouse for the genuine parts. The other is the list price, which is what we, as customers, pay to the Honda/Acura dealers for the same parts.

The dealer cost can be as little as 2/3 of the actual list price.

When a Honda dealer orders parts from an Acura dealer, the Honda dealer only needs to pay the dealer cost plus a small processing fee to the Acura dealer.

But when we, as customers, order parts from an Acura dealer, we'll have to pay the full list price with maybe a 10% discount at most if we know someone working there.

Also, Acura dealers won't refuse any part order requested by Honda dealers, because even Honda dealers have to prep and repair pre-owned Acura vehicles in their used vehicle parking lots.